


Keeping it Close to the Heart

by Julieoftarth (Wherethereissmoak)



Series: After the DragonPit [2]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Post Season 7, UST, on the road to winterfell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-04
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2019-01-09 02:48:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12267354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wherethereissmoak/pseuds/Julieoftarth
Summary: The rubies that made up the eyes on the lion of Oathkeeper have been lost, but Brienne keeps one near her heart. A continuation of my After the DragonPit series, on the road to Winterfell from Brienne's POV this time.





	Keeping it Close to the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Jaime/Brienne Appreciation Week Day 4 theme "Rubies." I hope you enjoy it! I am very tired and have no beta, so I'm sure there will be some typos. Please ignore, just this once. ;)

Brienne shifted in her saddle – knowing it would be time to stop for the night soon. This would probably be their last night on the road before they reached Winterfell.

Part of her was relieved that they would be able to take refuge from the bitter cold of the North in some shelter, but another part was not looking forward to the war with the dead that was to come. And there was Jaime – she was afraid of what would become of him when facing the Starks and the Dragon Queen.

Jaime…his fate was not the only reason she loathed to see this journey end. Their time together on the road had been…enjoyable. When she and Jaime Lannister traveled together -like their journey before he lost his hand, and the one after the bear pit – they were able to be friends. There were no allegiances. No courtly manners to follow. They could just…be.

Just Jaime and Brienne – and Pod and Bronn too, of course. Ever since they had met up with them in the inn after the Dragon Pit meeting in King’s Landing, and they had woken up after falling asleep next to each other in front of the inn’s fire, Jaime had been different.

For one, he was back to his old teasing self. The over-confident Jaime Lannister that had existed before he lost his hand was mysteriously here again. It was almost like with losing the golden hand, he lost all the weight bearing down on him. The party enjoyed his jokes and humor most of the way north. The only difference was that his teasing wasn’t cruel as it had been before – it was jovial.

And he had been looking at her strangely, too. Brienne and Jaime had always had some sort of connection between them, an unspoken bond. But lately, she had the feeling that to Jaime that it had become something…more.  He made a point to always ride beside her, and to sit by her at the fire each night. And every once in a while, she would catch him staring at her in a way that made her stomach flip.

She loved Jaime Lannister, she had admitted that to herself long ago, about the time he had given her Oathkeeper. But Brienne was used to loving people who would never look at her the same way, so she had accepted her feelings, but buried them deep within. She allowed herself to think of him and how he made her feel from time to time, but she would never let anyone know.

And the way he had been looking at her wasn’t helping to keep those feelings hidden. But Brienne was a realist, and hope was a thing for simpering and naïve maids. She was neither of those things. Jaime was just glad for the renewal of their friendship, to finally be free of his sister’s rule, and probably grateful that her words of “fuck loyalty” had shaken him from the prison he had trapped himself in.

Once his army arrived and he was its leader again, and if he managed to somehow get in the good graces of Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, they would probably go back to their routine of being knights with mutual respect for each other, rather than a man and a woman who spent all their time together.

Jaime seemed to want to make the most of their last night on the road together, sitting next to her by the fire long after Bronn and Pod had sought their bedrolls.

“I noticed something strange about Oathkeeper today while we were riding,” Jaime said.

“How did you notice something about my sword while we were riding? You should have been paying attention to the road before us,” she teased, trying to distract herself from his confirmation of what she suspected – Jaime had been studying her. Brienne did not even want to process what that meant.

Jaime grinned at her words. “It’s a long road, milady, and I must look at something to pass the time.”

He reached over and pulled Oathkeeper from its scabbard. Brienne told herself to breath normally despite his closeness.

“The rubies – for the eyes. They’re gone. Did you remove them because you thought the Lannister colors gave the sword’s origin away? I doubt that’s the case – since the lion reveals it’s a Lannister weapon anyway,” Jaime studied Oathkeeper, while Brienne froze, hoping she would not have to answer his question. “So what is it, wench? Did you in a moment of starvation on your journeys sell the rubies to feed you and Pod?”

Brienne reared back in offense. “I would never do that with such a precious gift, ser! I thought you knew me better than that. Obviously not, since you seem to forget my name is Brienne, not wench.”

Jaime grinned at her angry outburst and she scowled at him. Why did he like to anger her so? Why did he find it so amusing?

“Of course not _Lady_ Brienne, how dare I make such an assumption? So what really happened to the the rubies?”

Brienne stared at the ground, blushing.

“Brienne?”

She looked up at him, as it still surprised her when he didn’t use courtesy titles. “They fell out – during the fighting to get to Stannis. Shortly after I executed him, I realized they were missing.”

He was quiet for a moment, and Brienne took it for anger.

“I looked for them everywhere, and I only found one – before I had to help Sansa escape. My apologies, Ser Jaime.”

“Jaime, my name is Jaime.”

“I know, Ser Jaime,” she said confused.

“Is there any way I can get you to just call me by my name without the ‘Ser’ in front of it?”

“You are a knight.”

“I call you Brienne sometimes.”

“I am not a knight,” she argued.

“You are more of a knight than I ever will be, according to your Lady Stark.”

“She did not know of the honor in you,” Brienne replied, wishing that he would realize his worth.

Jaime sighed sadly.  

“I’m sorry the joy of your fulfillment to your vow to avenge Renly was marred by the worry over the rubies,” Jaime said.

“I was not joyful at executing Stannis, I was merely doing my duty,” Brienne said, her jaw set.

“Of course, ever the dutiful night,” Jaime replied with a small smile.  “So what did you do with it – the one ruby you were able to recover?”

Brienne blushed. She didn’t want to tell him that she kept the ruby – the Lannister colors and a representative of his gift to her – in the pocket of her shirt closest to her heart. But there was no way to avoid it. Not meeting his eyes, she reached into her pocket and handed it to him.

“Keep it, Ser Jaime, it’s yours.”

“It’s part of Oathkeeper, and that will always be yours.”

She looked up at him then, and he was studying the ruby with an odd expression. “Please…Jaime, you need to keep it. You will probably be hearing a lot of things about your broken vows in the past over the next few days, and maybe having a piece of Oathkeeper will help remind you of who you really are.”

Jaime stared at her with a surprised expression on his face, probably because she used his name without the “ser” in front of it. But she saw her words finally sink in, and his eyes moistened. Finally, he nodded and tucked the ruby into the breast pocket of his own tunic. She didn’t want to think about the implications of him putting in the same location where she had been carrying it.

“Alright, Brienne, I will carry it with me, but I will return it once my place in this new world is determined. And then you will return it back to me once we’ve survived the war against the Night King. I have to give you some sort of motivation to survive.”

They stared at each other for a moment before Brienne finally nodded in agreement, and he patted the pocket happily.

“I want you to promise me something else. If things look like things are going badly for me, like I’m going to be executed, I don’t want you to intervene.”

Brienne stood up in protest – how could he expect her to stand by and let him be killed.

He stood up and cut off her anger by placing his hand gently on her cheek. What was he doing? He had never touched her like that before.

“Please, Brienne. Speak for me before I’m condemned, but if I am, please remain silent. I can face any fate as long as I know I’m not bringing you down with me.”

The earnestness of the pleading in his eyes had her promising, although she wondered if it was a vow she would be able to keep. They stood there for a moment, his hand on her cheek, and she felt his stump brush her hip. It almost felt like he was going to kiss her. But that wasn’t possible – was it?

And then without warning, Jaime put distance between them. Brienne felt the lack of his warmth profoundly. She thought he would turn to his bedroll then, their conversation over, but he sat back down by the fire.

“Come sit, Brienne. Let’s enjoy tonight before we face the wolves and dragons tomorrow. Tell me again about how you defeated the Hound.”

Brienne smiled and sat down to tell the tale once more – for it was one of his favorites. She noticed how he scooted closer to her while she was telling it, their sides touching by the end. And nobody said anything the next morning when Bronn woke them, having leaned into each other as they fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Drop me a comment and let me know what you think!
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr under: julieoftarth


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